Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Ezekiel 47

Ezekiel 47:22
You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst.  And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
This seems to be quite a change from the last time the Jews were given this land.  First, He is telling them to re-divide it, ignoring the previous allocations.  Second, and more significant, this time He is not telling them to expel the foreigners from the land, but to accept them as part of the people.

This seems in contrast with the end of Ezra, when the people were told they had to cast out their foreign wives.  I'd have to look to be sure, but that may have just been the priests, in which case it doesn't conflict with this, since the priests don't get a land inheritance.  But still, is this the first step towards broader entrance into God's people through Jesus?  And what happened to turn the Samaritans into such pariahs a few centuries later, if they've been commanded to welcome outsiders?

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